Champagne sales fall flat as prosecco fizzes

Prosecco is the fizz of choice for almost 60 per cent of Britons, according to a new survey.

Some 59% of us have Prosecco as our preferred glass of fizz, with four in 10, rather than waiting for a special occasion, describing it as an “everyday indulgence”.

However, with only 37% confident in choosing a good quality bottle, the label is the deciding factor for 21% of those surveyed.

France, Spain and Italy supply 80 percent of the world’s sparkling wine, but since the turn of the century, sales have been shifting away from the more-expensive produce of the Champagne region and towards Spanish cava, and Prosecco, from the north-east of Italy.

Last year, UK sparkling wines were up £25.4 million year on year in the six weeks to Christmas, while Champagne sales were down 8% over the same period.

In the first half of 2015, Prosecco sales were up by 72 percent, while champagne’s rose by just 1.2 percent year-on-year.